


I Ask No Man Pardon

by MercurialBianca_TheHonorableMrsMcCarthy



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexuality, F/F, F/M, Lesbian Sex, Multi, Oral Sex, Threesome - F/F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-22 05:43:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6067306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurialBianca_TheHonorableMrsMcCarthy/pseuds/MercurialBianca_TheHonorableMrsMcCarthy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unexpected friendship between Rosie and Phryne forms, which leads to an unexpected journey of personal discovery. Picture it as a sort of unconventional love story. It will not be for everyone. I have given you many clues as to where this story is headed via the tags so don't say you weren't warned!<br/>So if the tags give you pause, thanks for reading this far but I am afraid this story might not be for you. If you are intrigued, gentle reader, to allow some indulgence with canon, you are in for a story of unconventional and unconditional love. And sex, there is lots of sex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Bridge is Built

**Author's Note:**

> This has been a journey. During a re-watch, several months ago, an after hours bit of silliness turned into a dare to write a drabble. That drabble turned into a ficlet, that ficlet grew to this nine chapter story.  
> I cannot thank the amazing women of the Writing Room enough for their support as I limped along to finish this story. Deepest gratitude to my beta team: Sarahtoo (AKA - Patron Saint of Commas) and projectcyborg, for assistance with "choreography" and being my after hours buddy. Last but not least, afterdinnerminx, for being my fairy god-sister at the beginning of this journey and spurring me on to take the leap. I love you all to pieces.
> 
> I gift this to all the "others" in the fandom. The unconventional, the struggling, the ones holding on by a thread. This is a story of finding yourself in unexpected places. May we all do so in our own time and in our own ways.
> 
> This is the longest work of fiction I think I have ever written, so I welcome your feedback.
> 
> For the Goddess Too Well Known  
> I have robbed the garrulous streets,  
> Thieved a fair girl from their blight,  
> I have stolen her for a sacrifice  
> That I shall make to this night.  
> I have brought her, laughing,  
> To my quietly dreaming garden.  
> For what will be done there  
> I ask no man pardon.  
> I brush the rouge from her cheeks,  
> Clean the black kohl from the rims  
> Of her eyes; loose her hair;  
> Uncover the glimmering, shy limbs.  
> I break wild roses, scatter them over her.  
> The thorns between us sting like love's pain.  
> Her flesh, bitter and salt to my tongue,  
> I taste with endless kisses and taste again.  
> At dawn I leave her  
> Asleep in my wakening garden.  
> (For what was done there  
> I ask no man pardon.)  
> ~Elsa Gidlow

 

Rosie needed a distraction.

She had been staying with her sister Marjorie and her family. And while they had all been lovely and supportive during the whole devastating implosion of her engagement and Father’s scandal, Rosie was craving an adult evening of conversation that did not center on children, scandal, her brother-in-law’s firm, or the footy scores. She craved a night out. Getting dressed up, cocktails, and invigorating conversation.

In truth, what she was craving was Jack. They had grown up together, and even though they had been through some awful times, it hadn’t been bad for the entirety of their 16-year relationship. He would know how to cheer her up. There was a time when he had been devilishly good at setting her to rights. Most of his techniques had involved them being naked, a level of intimacy she had not reached with Sidney **.** The second time really was very different than the first. She sighed audibly as she sank into her thoughts.

Sex with Sidney Fletcher had been exciting in the beginning, but then she began to notice little ticks. He was always checking in with her during the act, asking questions. Initially the attention had been welcome, as it had been so long since someone had asked her what she wanted. However, she came to realize that it had more to do with his own vanity than his desire to give her pleasure. She began to think of it as fishing for compliments about his technique and wanting validation of his sexual prowess. It was a bit tiresome, really.

But Jack, darling Jack. He had done everything either of them could dream up in order to bring her pleasure. She had not even felt the need to question how he came by his knowledge of that tongue technique he used on her most intimate flesh after he had returned from the war. They both had sought comfort during those years apart. Neither explicitly said it, they didn’t have to say it. They knew each other well enough to read between the lines of the letters that had been sent farther and farther apart and containing more benign news. Saw it in each other’s faces when he came off the ship, felt it in each other’s touch as they tried to rediscover each other upon his return.

When he came home early that one night and walked in on her and the visiting French poet, Sylvie, he had been angry at first. But she imagined it would be just like any husband walking in on someone with a hand up his wife’s skirt and wearing the dregs of her lipstick on neck and collar. After Sylvie made her hasty retreat, he had withdrawn pensively to his room. Rosie had no idea what to say—she knew what the well-to-do families often did with women like her and she was grateful Jack would never do that to her—but she knocked on his door anyway. Honestly, it had looked worse than it was. Sylvie had only just begun her bolder explorations of Rosie when Jack had arrived. She and Jack had talked and cried together well into the night. He had been so much more a friend than lover at that point but it was what she needed.

He had been quite lovely these past couple of months, checking in on her and Margie. Their friendship was stronger than ever, and Rosie was glad for it. She asked after his cases and surprised herself by discovering that she was even able to hear Miss Fisher’s name without flinching. She couldn’t bring herself to ask directly about her, or them, yet. She had recognized their affection for each other even when they both had seemed blind to it. But lately, she had noticed a shift in Jack’s demeanor and suspected that what had been painfully clear to everyone else had finally occurred to them—that they were a _them_.

She had always been unable to hate Jack. That would have been so much easier. If she had hated him she could have brought herself to divorce him years earlier. No, there would always be a place in her heart for Jack Robinson. And while they were ill-fated lovers she was happy they had stayed in each other’s lives as friends.

But were they on solid enough footing that Rosie could call and ask him to take her out tonight? Rosie was lost in thought and missed the ringing of the doorbell. It was not until the housekeeper, Mrs. Ellis, popped her head into the parlour that she realized she had a visitor. “Miss Sanderson? There’s a Miss Fisher here to see you. Are you receiving visitors?”

Rosie was incredulous. She sighed aloud. Of all the people to visit. So few, if any, of her friends had stopped by. Suddenly her circle had grown quite small. So to have the paramour of her ex-husband paying her a visit was unexpected but Rosie was not prone to trepidation. “Certainly. Please, show her in.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Rosie was very pleasantly surprised that Miss Fisher had chosen one of her more modest costumes for today’s visit. If she had swirled in on a cloud of feathers and silk Rosie might have changed her mind about receiving her.

Rosie stood to great her guest. “Miss Fisher, this is quite intriguing. I suppose I should not be at all surprised that a lady detective would discover where my sister lives, but I am fascinated to discover what has brought you to her doorstep.”

“Please Miss Sanderson, I had hoped you would still call me Phryne. And I am here on a very important mission.” Rosie could tell that Phryne was trying to sound light and breezy but sensed there was a little nervousness underneath it all. Good, she thought. Not maliciously, but she was feeling incredibly vulnerable and she did not want anyone, least of all the Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher, to feel like they had the upper hand on her.

“Yes, I will try Miss...Phryne. And, of course, call me Rosie. Now that we have the formalities out of the way, let us return to the reason for your visit. Please, have a seat. You said it was an important mission. Well, you have piqued my interest.”

“Good, on all accounts.” Phryne said, sounding a bit relieved. She remained standing as she blurted out. “I am taking you out this evening!”

Rosie thought that after all that had happened to her over the past month that her ability to be shocked had been exhausted. She was wrong. She quickly regained her composure, a skill that had been honed to precision at this point.

“I am sorry, what did you just say?”

Phryne walked further into the room to stand by Rosie. “Yes, it is my personal philosophy that the best revenge is living well. You have missed two of the latest luncheons that the society mavens of Melbourne have thrown and one charity ball. And while it is perfectly reasonable to cocoon for a bit after all you have been through, it is time to take back your life and step out on your own terms. So forget the stuffy luncheons - believe me, you missed nothing by the way – and let’s really show them what you are made of by hitting the town!”

Rosie looked at Phryne and let that little speech pour over her. A part of what she said had some real logic to it. But Rosie had never been much of a rebel. Of the two of them, Marjorie had been more inclined to that, before her husband won her over and they settled down to start their family. Rosie had always been the pragmatic one. But above all else, Rosie was confused about something.

She sank back down onto the chaise and Phryne finally stepped over to the chair next to her and sat as well.

“Why, Phryne?” She said rather quietly. Her voice betraying her feelings more than she would have liked. “Why do you want to do that? I have hardly been particularly warm towards you during our past encounters.”

Phryne had been expecting this. “Because I know what it is like to be the controversy.” She replied simply. “I am sure you are well aware that I was not born to this society life, Rosie. And then, to top it off, I return from my global travels a spinster who promptly hangs out her shingle as a detective.” Phryne smiled roguishly. “So now, the grubby girl from Collingwood who ran away to Europe returns as the Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher, secure in her own financial independence, running about in terribly well-tailored trousers with her best friend who happens to be a Sapphist, getting caught up in the most intriguing adventures.” With a shrug of her shoulders she added. “Not the least of which is the occasional romantic dalliance captured by the gossip rags.”

Rosie had not really taken that all into consideration before, but Phryne was right. Rosie and Margie were not the pinnacles of Melbourne society either, but she had grown up very comfortably in middle class Richmond and had access to good schools and all the “right” sorts of hobbies, as was befitting a lady. Her parents’ ambition had earned them access to the crème de la crème of Melbourne, which she and Margie had frankly taken for granted. Miss Fisher had returned to Australia as the very eccentric niece to one of Melbourne’s most stalwart of mavens, Prudence Stanley. She had definitely been the topic of conversation at more than one society gathering.

Rosie became thoughtful for a moment. Something Phryne said had stuck out, and she could not let it go passing by without a query.

“Yes, you have been spotted stepping out with quite a few of Melbourne’s most handsome bachelors. There is one man, though, who they have yet to capture you with, other than on the courthouse steps.” She added pointedly but not angrily or negatively. It was the other thing Phryne had expected would come up during this visit.

Phryne thought it best to be as open here as possible. “Jack is too cautious for that, Rosie,” she said tentatively but then rushed to add, “our friendship has been very slow to flower into anything else and the romantic overtures are more recent. I think many have assumed Jack and I were romantically inclined before we actually were.” Phryne offered a small almost shy smile. “He really does think the world of you, Rosie, and even after your divorce was finalized he did not want to do anything that would hurt you or your reputation. As for our past encounters, well, I do not begrudge your acrimony. I appreciate a woman who is willing to stand up for a man she loves. In your shoes, with someone like Jack, I am confident I would have behaved the same.”

A thought occurred to Rosie, and she blurted out “Jack doesn’t know you’re here!”

“No, he doesn’t. I wanted to do this and I knew he would likely try to talk me out of it.”

“Well, this cannot possibly be an attempt to size up the competition. You know perfectly well that ship has sailed.” Rosie winced at her own reference. Tears welled up to sting her eyes and she was hopeless to stop them.

Phryne swiftly moved from her chair to the chaise and sat next to Rosie. “Rosie, please, I truly did not stop by today to hurt you. I rather admire your tenacity, actually. And, as I said, I know what it is like to walk into a party and have the conversation abruptly change topics. What you do not know is just how acutely I am aware of the devastation felt when a lover betrays your trust. Of the anger felt when you realize you have lost something of yourself to someone and the dread that you will never get it back.” Phryne’s own eyes clouded as they always did when the topic of Rene came up.

Rosie looked at her as she heard the change in her voice and noticed the change in her breathing. “Your French painter, right?” She put her hands over Phryne’s. “Jack did mention something about that case. Not the least of which was because of the kiss.” Rosie smiled, despite herself. “And the snails.”

Phryne had forgotten that detail as the whole day to her had been a blur. “That’s right, we were trying to pretend to be normal diners. Anatole was trying to keep up appearances so he placed food in front of us. I couldn’t eat a bite, but Jack….”

At that, a giggle rose up unbidden from Rosie. “How that man has stayed trim is beyond me. His appetite is rather legendary.” At that second comment Rosie gave Phryne a sidelong glance and smirked, despite herself. Phryne cocked an eyebrow and looked at Rosie appreciatively, acknowledging the double entendre.

Rosie realized that despite all logic and reason she definitely liked the Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher.

With that, she made her decision and said in a conspiratorial voice, “I think we are heading into dangerous territory now and if we are going to do that, I believe I will require a cocktail...or three.”

Phryne beamed and there was no mistaking the mischief in her eyes. She had decided she rather liked Rosie Sanderson. “Agreed, let’s hold off on secrets and conspiracies until we can have more sail than ballast.”

Phryne stood, preparing to depart. “I’ll come ‘round about nine tonight. And then, look out Melbourne!”

The two ladies parted in very good spirits, both marveling at the mercurial nature of friendship.


	2. An enchanted evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phryne and Rosie's girls night out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, here is where I let you know that in my world, Phryne is not 28 like she is in the books. TV Phryne, played by the lovely Essie Davis, is always going to be thirty-something to me. This only impacts the flashback scenes, as it makes her a bit older when she joins the war effort. Thank you for indulging me.

Phryne decided it best to have Bert and Cec play chauffeur that night, so that she and Rosie would not have to worry about how many cocktails they were going to drink. Despite their very promising afternoon, this was after all a nascent alliance.

They arrived at nine on the dot and Phryne was very pleased that Rosie was still in good spirits. As Rosie slid into the car next to her, Phryne felt a hitch in her breathing. She was stunning. She did not quite share Phryne’s flair for dramatic accessories but she was sporting a lovely little opal fascinator that was a striking contrast to her chestnut hair. And clearly, she was no stranger to the Fleuri sisters. She had chosen a midnight blue charmeuse gown that skimmed her figure. There was just a bit of sparkle at the straps, with a beaded overlay that extended past the hem of her dress and created a flattering accent to her legs.

And, it turned out, she shared Phryne’s love of fox fur, which she had draped over her arm at the present. The rich dark fur was a lovely accent to her sun kissed complexion. Phryne could see why Jack had been besotted with Rosie and held on as long as he could to keep her.

Clearly Phryne was not the only one who noticed how beautiful Rosie looked as Bert tripped over himself getting the door and Cec stuttered his welcome. Rosie blushed at the attention. That flush sent a familiar warm feeling through Phryne.

“What a lovely dress” Rosie offered as a greeting. Phryne had chosen a deep emerald satin gown as a good excuse to wear her Colombian emeralds. She had her favorite black fox fur evening coat and a string of diamonds and emeralds in her hair.

It was Phryne’s turn to blush as she realized she had been staring. “Thank you, I see Mme Fleuri has done quite well by you as well.” She began mentally kicking herself for her momentary loss of cool. What on earth was with her this evening? This was not like her at all!

Rosie knew Phryne would be dressed to the nines. After all, she had seen some of the bold outfits she wore to run around town solving murders. She imagined that tonight’s elegant look was more for her benefit, not wanting to outshine her. Rosie appreciated the thoughtfulness of her restraint. Any of her final reservations about coming out tonight quickly melted away as the two women shared a smile.

Phryne had chosen a club far less underground than her usual preference but not so well known as to be overwhelming for Rosie. They wanted to be seen but not on display. There were a few dark corners they could retreat to if they felt like it.

The two women alighted from the cab and it was not until Rosie saw the other cabs pulling up and a few familiar faces go inside that she hesitated. Phryne sidled up next to her and laced her right arm around Rosie’s left; side by side, they went towards the club entrance.

Bert turned to Cec as they watched the two women walk away. “Can you believe the Inspector has been with two birds as beautiful as them?” The mix of admiration and disbelief clear. Cec just shook his head side to side in response. “Lucky bastard,” they said almost in unison.

Just as they approached the entrance, there was a big flash. Phryne turned and could see Frederick Burn from _The Globe_. She felt Rosie tense but she did not try to bolt. Phryne whispered under her breath. “Smile!” Rosie did her best to flash a smile at the photographer and another flash went off. Phryne quickly ushered them inside and out of the prying eyes of the gossip hound.

She confidently steered them towards a table to the side of the dance floor, it provided good visibility but was not directly in the limelight. Aside from a few curious stares there was not too much attention paid to them as they settled in at their table.

Rosie still felt her heart racing after the run in with that leech Burn, but watching Phryne settle into the plush chair like a queen had a calming effect on her. She raised her chin and tried to channel Phryne’s confidence into her own pose.

Phryne was clearly in her element. She was soaking up the admiring stares from the men (and a few emboldened women) like a flower reaching towards the sun. Phryne really was a beautiful woman. Jack certainly could not be blamed for being swept up in her orbit. Rosie watched as Phryne effortlessly flirted with the server and was impressed with how quickly they were set up with a bottle of sparkling wine placed in a wine bucket on a stand next to the table.

The two women picked up their glasses and Phryne proposed a toast, “To second chapters, living well, and always keeping them guessing.” Rosie had to smile, as she raised her glass in response. The wine was good, very good. She realized that Phryne had spared no expense and picked out a bottle of real champagne!

Phryne was thrilled at Rosie’s reaction to the champagne. She felt they had earned the indulgence after the last couple of weeks. She saw Rosie finally relax for the first time since they had picked her up that evening. Phryne smiled at her.

“You really are quite stunning tonight, you know. I have never seen Bert stumble like that, and there are a number of gentlemen whose gazes have barely left this table since we sat down.”

Rosie looked at her incredulously. “There is no need to lay on the flattery, Phryne. I have a hard time imagining that all those gentlemen are looking at me when I am sitting right next to you!”

“Hmm, well we can at least agree that we have not gone unnoticed by the men in this establishment and leave it that.” Rosie nodded in acquiescence. The two sat in companionable silence while the band finished another song.

Rosie was a bit taken aback when a strong hand appeared in her peripheral vision. She followed the hand up a well-formed arm, then continued upward to the face of a rather dashing man.

“May I have this dance Miss Sanderson?” For a split second she was going to say ‘no thank you’ but a look from Phryne saw her saying ‘yes’ instead. Moments later, Phryne was swooped up for a dance as well.

After several turns around the dance floor, both women returned to their table a bit breathless. They each took longer than usual sips of their champagne to cool down. This meant they were well into their third glass of champagne by the time Rosie said “Thank you Phryne, this was a much better idea than I thought it would be.”

Phryne smiled broadly. “Oh Rosie, this evening is just getting started, but I am very glad to hear you are enjoying it thus far.” The look of utter mischief was unmistakable. With a subtle nod, another bottle of champagne materialized seemingly out of thin air.

The combination of another round of dancing with two more charming men and the champagne was definitely filling her head. She was feeling emboldened. “Miss Fisher,” Rosie began, she could hear her speech was just slightly softened from the drink. “How long have you been an incorrigible flirt?”

The question was so unexpected, Phryne burst out laughing. “1916 to be exact.”

It was Rosie’s turn to giggle. “Well, that is a far more specific answer than I had expected.”

“After I had run off to Europe to escape my ridiculous family, I was a field nurse on the front. As a teenager in Collingwood I did not stand out all that much, but in Europe, surrounded by hundreds of men who did not know anything about my past, I was able to blossom into a woman. It was incredibly liberating! I discovered I rather enjoyed exploring which buttons to push on a man to elicit a response or just cheer them up if their sweetheart had broken off with them.”

Rosie was warming up to this more intimate level of conversation, but the band was starting up again. She did not feel like shouting over music. “Phryne, I think we’ve been seen enough tonight, don’t you? Let’s move over to one of those back tables so we can hear each other properly.”

As much as Phryne loved being in the thick of the action, she had to concede Rosie made a good point. And she was intrigued to see just exactly where this evening was going. So, she nodded her agreement and waved over the server, who helped them get settled at their new table against the wall. The two women slid into the banquette and took stock of their new vantage point on the room.

Rosie was very pleasantly surprised that she no longer felt everyone’s eyes on her and could see that it was just an average night out at the club at this point in the evening. She sank just a little deeper into the seat and looked over at her companion. She realized she was totally at ease and more than a little intoxicated.

“All I want is for him to be happy, Phryne. He deserves that after all the years of being stoic and chaste. I, I was jealous in the beginning. Seeing him get his confidence back, the sparkle returning to his eyes. Knowing that it was someone else who had accomplished what I could not. And you, you are not exactly what I would have pictured being the tonic he needed.” She was smiling and the words had no trace of bitterness, just straightforward fact.

Phryne leaned in conspiratorially, “To me, it is quite clear that Jack is drawn to strong, beautiful women.” She reached out and put her hand over Rosie’s and gave her a small smile.

Both of them were taken aback by the jolt they felt when she did it. They caught each other’s eyes. That feeling she had in the cab earlier came back to Phryne. Now that she could see Rosie more clearly she was a little startled to see Rosie wrestling with something as well.

Rosie was confused by her body's reaction. Suddenly the room was too warm, her dress too tight, her pulse too fast.

She had to break this peculiar spell that was making her head thick. Before she could think she blurted out “You are aware that Jack is hopelessly in love with you, right?”

This, Phryne did NOT expect. She was way too intoxicated to be clever though. “Rosie…” she started gently. How can I tell her that Jack and I are more complicated than that? _What does that even mean?_

Then Rosie did something totally unexpected, she laughed. Not gently but from deep within herself. At first Phryne was alarmed but then she got swept up in the absurdity of the moment (the champagne helped) and started laughing as well.

Rosie paused between laughing fits. “If you had told me six months ago that I would be out having drinks with my ex-husband’s new lover AND that I would actually be enjoying myself, I would have called to have you committed.”

“Well, when you put it that way, if you had told ME six months ago that I would allow myself to get hung up on the noble, reserved and stoic Jack Robinson, I would have let you!”

“Noble, stoic and reserved? Is that Jack or the tag line for an accounting firm?” Rosie said, which sent both women back into the giggles. “Dear Jack was not always that way, Phryne. Time, the war and his years on the force worked to create that.” Rosie offered fondly before a small cloud passed across her face. “And, if I am being honest, me.”

She shrugged off the cloud as she was struck by a sudden memory. “There was a time when Jack was quite audacious and, I dare say, even rambunctious if the mood struck.”

Phryne’s eyes sparkled with sheer delight and she leaned in towards Rosie. “Really?!?! Oh, do go on.”

Rosie leaned in conspiratorially as well. “We were shopping for our house. The realtor had just taken us upstairs to view the bedrooms when she was called back down to the foyer by an argument amongst the caretaker and the gardener. Jack grabbed my hand and whisked me into the master bedroom. He leaned in closely and whispered roughly into my ear ‘You have been driving me to distraction all afternoon.’ He leaned in and I could feel how hard he was through his trousers. ‘I want you right now,’ he all but growled. I was just trying to decide how to proceed with my cheeky husband when we heard the realtor’s feet on the landing. Jack bit his lip and stepped behind me, ostensibly to cover his tented trousers but he sounded quite content when he pushed up closely behind me.”

Rosie’s cheeks had developed a bit of a flush as she recounted the story and her voice had become husky as well. Phryne had felt her own pulse quickening and glanced down to see that the two of them had slid closer together so that they were just inches apart now. The large banquette was now cocooning them and the rest of the club drifted away. Without really thinking about it, Phryne reached up and stroked Rosie’s cheek.

The two women locked eyes briefly, before Phryne dropped her gaze to Rosie’s lips. Moving more on instinct than thought, Rosie closed the gap between them and softly kissed Phryne. It was not a chaste kiss, but neither was it sloppy or urgent. Just a deep, soft, warm meeting of lips.

They pulled their lips apart but their bodies remained close. Phryne spoke first, not much above a whisper. “That was lovely.”

Rosie smiled quietly. “It was. Do it again.”

This time Phryne let her hands slide to Rosie’s waist. Rosie parted her lips and Phryne slipped her tongue over the threshold as a titillating gesture. They separated, but before either could say anything there was the sound of glass breaking somewhere near the dance floor. The commotion snapped Rosie back to her surroundings, and she looked about a bit wildly to see if anyone had witnessed their actions.

“Phryne, I....” It was all she could muster before she started gently trembling.

Phryne slid her hand under Rosie’s chin and raised her gaze to her own. “Don’t you dare apologize. You know I kissed you back.”

Rosie gave a soft, small smile before she said, “You did kiss me back and no, I do not feel the need to apologize.” The two women brought their heads together and simply leaned against each other for a moment. “However, I do think that I may have hit my limit for excitement today. If you don’t mind, I think it’s time to go home.”

Phryne sat up straighter “But of course! I had only intended to coax you out of your shell tonight but I had not picked you for someone who might not need all that much coaxing.”

Rosie looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. “Well, it would be a tactical error to think you had me pegged just yet.”

The reference was uncanny, Phryne thought. Had Jack told Rosie stories about those first few cases together? Was this evidence of the mind merging that happens to married couples who spent their formative years together? _Curious._

Rosie and Phryne slipped from the club without incident from any lingering gossips and settled into the cab for the short drive to Margie’s home. Their hands brushed together on the seat between them and Phryne absentmindedly rubbed her pinky slowly along the back of Rosie’s hand. Both were caught up in their own thoughts, but the silence did not feel awkward. In fact, the energy between them was much more of a smolder.

Phryne broke the silence. “I hope we are able to do this again some time? Perhaps you’d like to stop by for cocktails next week? Mr. Butler makes a spectacular French 75.”

“Yes, I think I would like that very much.” They parted with smiles and Phryne gave Rosie’s hand a gentle squeeze before Bert escorted her to the door.


	3. Impulses are acted upon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosie and Phryne share another evening and get a little philosophical. Plus, we get a glimpse of Rosie's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the lovely comments and messages so far! And I promise, the sexytimes are close. Just consider these first chapters as foreplay.

The following week, Rosie joined Phryne at Wardlow and the two spent the evening playing chess, drinking cocktails, and sharing stories of past romantic interludes. Phryne had always assumed that Rosie and Jack were virgins when they married, or at least when they became betrothed. She had also assumed that both had been faithful during the war. Rosie did not say so outright, but she certainly intimated that neither of those things was necessarily true. Rosie and Jack were both proving to be far more intriguing than Phryne had given them credit for. Oh how Phryne loved to unravel a mystery, and with Rosie and Jack she had two!

With the chess game providing a pleasant distraction, the cocktails working their magic on inhibitions, and the warmth of the company, Rosie felt comfortable enough to ask the question that she had been ruminating over the entire week.

“So how many women have you been with Phryne?”

Phryne looked up from the game board and regarded Rosie thoughtfully. “Well, you do believe in being direct.”

Rosie looked a bit sheepish. She worried she had over-stepped, and her lips parted as she started to say something, but Phryne raised a hand to quiet her. “I find that is growing to be one of my favorite of your attributes, actually.” I wonder if you are that direct in the boudoir as well, she thought. No wonder Jack was loath to walk away.

“And the answer to your question is multifaceted. If you are asking about how many women I have kissed, the answer is three dozen or so. If you are asking about how many I have been intimate with, that number is six, and if you are asking how many women I have taken as lovers? That would be two.”

Rosie looked thoughtful for a moment. The numbers didn’t surprise her. Miss Fisher’s sexual exploits had almost become mythological to the gossip mavens of Melbourne society, and it was common knowledge that her closest friend was a practicing Sapphist. It stood to reason that the two might have taken youthful curiosity to the next level. After all, Rosie had tried to sate her own curiosity a couple of times as well.

“Yet you and Dr. MacMillan have remained friends?”

Phryne smiled at the frankness of the question and the assumption. With a twinkle in her eye she responded “Mac and I have certainly known each other intimately but we have never actually been lovers.”

“Really? I would have bet money on it. I suppose it is good for my pocketbook that I left the gambling to Sidney. How utterly intriguing. The two women must have been extraordinary.”

“Yes, they were not just remarkable, I dare say they approached being divine. Now, turnabout is fair play, Rosie. What about you? My lips have certainly not been the first female lips you have tasted. So was there a someone special before Jack?” A sudden thought came over her and she looked at Rosie conspiratorially. “Or did you and Jack ever….?”

Rosie laughed a bit sardonically.

“Really, Phryne? The daughter of the Deputy Commissioner and his protégé exploring immoral acts with women of questionable character?”

“Well, I suppose if you put it like that.”

“Although bless his heart, I think Jack would have been willing to try anything for my sake. However, he could not, for my sake as well. A terrible irony, don’t you think?” The look in Rosie’s eyes was full of fondness tinged with regret.

“He loves you very much.”

“Loved. That is, I mean to say, we have grown into good friends, and we’ll always love each other. We stopped being in love years ago. His passions are definitely otherwise occupied at the present,” she sent a pointed look at Phryne, “and mine are… to be discovered.”

Rosie trailed off a moment in thought.

“Enough of that. Returning to the topic at hand, I have kissed three other women. As to the rest, I suppose it would depend on how you looked at it. I must confess my ignorance as to the distinction between being intimate and taking someone as a lover. That seems a rather modern construct of the unmarried.” Rosie had taken her time in gathering her thoughts and had been distractedly caressing one of her bishops while she formulated her response.

Phryne realized she was salivating as she watched Rosie stroke the top of the piece, which unmistakably resembled the pert breast of a woman. I am _on fire right now_ , she thought.

“What is the difference? At least in your eyes?” Rosie finally asked.

“Admittedly, the distinction is one of semantics. However, I see physical intimacy with someone as sharing amorous, physical contact. It may happen once or twice with that partner and you may not even know the person all that well outside of the boudoir. But taking a lover is special. To me it means taking the time to explore someone, learning what gives them pleasure. Developing trust with them so that you can discover and appreciate their...idiosyncrasies. With a lover you learn their personal landscape but also what stimulates them mentally. In my experience, when you are synced up with a lover you can leave them thoroughly undone with not much more than a couple of choice words and a look.“

Rosie was entranced listening to Phryne so matter-of-factly state her thoughts on sex. Jack and I were very good lovers, she thought. Does Phryne know his personal landscape already like I did? Does she want to know mine? Heaven help me, I want to know hers. _Oh God_. Rosie was reeling and felt she was on the precipice of an important discovery about herself that she had been too scared to explore openly before.

“Sadly, there is a great degree of danger in taking a woman as a lover, with society the way it is currently. I honestly do not know how Mac deals with it here in the Antipodes. In Bohemian Paris it was far less of a formidable problem. Just the odd raid now and again to keep the old guard happy.”

Rosie remained thoughtful. Taking in all that Phryne was saying before she finally responded. “Intriguing. With that in mind, I could best describe my experience as fumbling exploration. Intimate, but not to completion, so to speak.”

Rosie paused a moment, seeming to wrestle with a thought. She drew in the side of her lip a moment and then looked up with her piercing eyes. “But there is one…”

Phryne felt a shift in the air, and her breathing hitched. “Oh, what is she like?”

Rosie locked eyes with Phryne. “Intelligent, captivating, beautiful, too intriguing for her own good.” The two had once again been drawn closer to each other. Phryne thought, _is she saying what I think she is saying? Is Rosie Sanderson actually making advances on ME?_

“And, in what ways are you intimate?” Phryne asked suggestively in that clipped manner of speech she employed when she already knew the answer to the question. _I am so very glad Rosie differs from Jack in acting on her impulses,_ Phryne thought.

“I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

Phryne reached out to cup Rosie’s face and pulled her in for a slow, deep kiss. In the privacy of the parlor of Wardlow they were both able to sink into each other more completely than the week before. Phryne coaxed Rosie’s mouth open and her tongue began to softly explore her. Their tongues curled, caressed and teased each other.

They parted for air and Phryne felt herself a little nervous when she saw Rosie’s eyes remained closed. “Are you alright, Rosie? Should I stop?”

A slow smile bloomed on Rosie’s face, and then her eyes fluttered open. “I am just savoring the sensations, Phryne. The last few weeks have taught me to never again take for granted moments of pleasure or happiness.”

Phryne placed a hand over Rosie’s in understanding and looked at her with soft and reassuring eyes. Rosie changed the angle of her hand and laced her fingers into Phryne’s before bringing the hand up to her mouth. She gently kissed each of Phryne’s knuckles before wrapping soft warm lips around Phryne’s center finger, drawing it into her mouth, sucking and gently teasing with her tongue.

Phryne sucked in a surprised breath and let it out shakily. Being with a woman always gave her a different sort of thrill than being with a man. Men were often so predictable but a woman, it was best to expect the unexpected. It was thrilling.

Without untwining their hands, Phryne ran her slicked finger down Rosie’s neck to her collarbone. Rosie let out a soft mew of approval. Phryne let their fingers separate so that she could gently skim them over the skin just above Rosie’s blouse.

Rosie marveled at the gentleness of Phryne’s touch. Yet despite, or maybe because, of that velvet touch, it felt as if Phryne was blazing a trail across her chest. Rosie felt an ache to be touched that she had not felt in some time. Her moment with Sylvie had been more from loneliness than anything else. No, she had not had stirrings like this since the war. Since Amelia.

~<3~

The women of Melbourne who had men fighting overseas had banded together once the war had stretched past the two year mark. They started gathering together more often and dinners turned into drinks afterward as those of them that were still childless, were not in any rush to head home to cold and empty beds.

She had especially bonded with Myrtle, Louisa, and Amelia, who were part of the childless group, like herself. The four had found themselves discussing philosophy, love, and the silliness of Melbourne society functions during a war. And sometimes, they just spent the entire evening playing cards and drinking absinthe, a drink Louisa had been gifted by a cousin in Switzerland. It was on one of those nights that Amelia kissed her the first time.

What a titillating surprise that had been! Rosie had felt something new inside herself when their lips met. At first, she had attributed it to the fact that other than her own ministrations, she had not had sex in two years. However, she had a nagging suspicion that it was more than that. An otherness had been awakened that she could not explain. She loved Jack and adored making love to him, so what was this sensation?

She and Amelia found themselves stealing kisses and then taking liberties with exploring each other. There was a familiarity to it. A built in set of clues as to what would feel good to the other. But one or the other of them always stopped before completely letting go.

~<3~

Rosie snapped out of her reverie as Phryne’s fingers dipped into her brassiere and brushed between her breasts. She felt her nipples stiffening in response. Rosie let her own hands caress up Phryne’s thighs, to her hips and then she gently explored up Phryne’s torso, letting her fingertips ghost up the sides of her breasts before settling them on Phryne’s cheeks. She pulled her in for a kiss. The feel of full, soft lips, so similar to her own filled her with excitement, and with a heat she felt warm her from head to toe. She let her lips part and was thrilled when Phryne’s tongue entered, seeking her own. Kissing Phryne was proving to be deliciously intoxicating.

A noise from somewhere else in the house broke Rosie from her reverie. She pulled up short and sat up at attention.

“Oh my!” The spell had broken and Rosie was once again back inside herself. Self-conscious and panicky at the idea of being caught. “I did not realize how late it was!”

“You do not have to retreat Rosie, you could stay….”

“No, I….not tonight. Not here. I...we can talk another time.” And with that, she rushed to gather her things and headed out the door.

Phryne followed her to the foyer, unusually quiet. She found she was at a bit of a loss as to what to say to Rosie at that moment.

Loud enough so that anyone nearby could hear, Rosie said “Thank you again for a lovely evening, Phryne, we should definitely find another evening soon to finish our game.” And then she was out the door and down the path with a purposeful walk to hail a cab.

“Good night, Rosie. Indeed, another evening soon. I would rather like that.” She called after her.

Phryne closed the door and leaned against it.

“I would indeed rather like that.” she said to herself quietly.


	4. Boundaries are tested

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title chapter says it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually, you are getting two chapters for the price of one! I decided it would be cruel to post two short chapters so you are getting two today!

The following week, Rosie dropped by Wardlow for another evening of cocktails and companionship. Both proved excellent. As the evening wore on, she also found herself very cozy on the chaise with her hostess. Phryne was regaling her with a very animated story about herself and Mac in Paris when she paused suddenly. “Rosie, what is it? You have the queerest look on your face right now. Is there something you want to ask? I hope I haven’t talked your ear off!”

Rosie had slightly inclined her head while she was listening to Phryne and had been only half listening to her story. But now that Phryne had stopped, she gave her a small smile and asked the question that had been forming for the past week. “What am I?”

Phryne leaned over and cupped her face. “Beautiful.”

“Phryne, you know that’s not what I am asking.” She gave her a shy smile. “Although, thank you.” She looked at Phryne more intently before expressing the thoughts that had been distracting her. “What are you? What are we? What is this?” She gestured at the air between them.

Phryne’s eyes flashed in defiance. “I refuse to be labeled for enjoying the sensual pleasures of life, and you should too, Rosie.” Phryne shifted her hands to grasp Rosie’s. She looked down a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing. “Oh Rosie, deep inside you know what you are, what you need and what you desire.” She waved a hand dismissively. ”You just may not have a name for it that suits you. I have several friends, and my own cousin Guy, who love freely, enjoying relationships with men and women as their heart, or in Guy’s case a lower organ, desires.”

Phryne looked at Rosie with a conspiratorial sparkle in her eyes. “I adore men, I love everything about them: smell, taste, the feel of their hands against me, the way they fill me, all of it. But in my teen years I discovered I also had an attraction to women, almost as strong as my budding attraction to men. Mac and I spent hours talking about what it all meant. I found that as she described her latest crush to me I shared not only a companionable interest but became aroused as well. It was incredibly confusing at the time.”

Phryne moved closer to Rosie and took her hands in her own again before continuing. “Thank goodness I had befriended the carnival folk, who had much more expansive world views than anyone in Collingwood with regards to sexuality. They explained to me the same thing I will share with you,  that attraction is not always black and white but can be many lovely shades of grey.”

Phryne brought Rosie’s hands up to her mouth and kissed them gently. Then she arched one of her expressive brows and continued brazenly. “But if you would like, how about we call ourselves adventurers.”

They leaned into each other and kissed. Phryne parted her mouth and Rosie followed suit. Phryne then unclasped their hands and slid a hand up Rosie’s chest to gingerly caress a breast. Rosie mewed in approval, her own hands caressing Phryne’s thighs through the crisp fabric of her trousers. They deepened their kisses, tongues exploring each other’s mouths in earnest.

Rosie began to lose herself in the feel of lips, tongues, slender fingers and soft silk. As their body heat grew their perfumes blended together into a new and heady mix that seduced the senses. They wrapped their arms around each other, Phryne slowly lowering Rosie down on to the chaise. They caressed and kissed for what seemed like hours. Phryne could tell Rosie wanted to take things slowly, and despite her usual penchant for more energetic, dexterous encounters, she was happy to let Rosie set the pace.

At least for tonight.

“Jack.”

Phryne froze and pulled up from Rosie. “Jack? What about Jack?”

Rosie began buttoning her blouse in earnest. “Phryne, how are we doing this if you and Jack are together now?”

Well we haven’t done much of anything yet, Phryne thought a bit forlornly. She began to set her own blouse to rights. “Rosie, Jack and I have an understanding in regards to my amorous pursuits.”

“Does your understanding include women?” Phryne shrugged her shoulders non-committedly. “Even if it did Phryne, I sincerely doubt that it extends to his ex-wife.”

Phryne sat up, knowing that once again the spell was broken for the evening. “Well, I haven’t asked him yet if that’s what you are wondering. Honestly, I have been very impressed with how liberal-minded Jack can be.”

“I cannot hurt him again.” Rosie said sadly. “This doesn’t feel right. I want to continue our friendship, Phryne. I have so desperately needed a female friend, so I really do not want to jeopardize my friendships with either you or Jack. We are dangerously close to crossing a line, I can feel it. Can't you?”

“Leave Jack to me.” Phryne said with just a hair more confidence than she actually felt. “I believe we can find a solution that will feel satisfying to all.” Phryne became serious for a moment. “Rosie, I have grown to enjoy your friendship as well. Whatever happens next, I do want to make sure we can preserve that.”

Rosie smiled, though the tears in her eyes were threatening to pour forth. “Me too. Good night, Phryne.”

“Good night, Rosie. Trust me, I will make this right.”

##  **Lover’s interlude**

When Phryne had told him about her most recent night with Rosie, Jack felt a tinge of jealousy but Phryne kissed away those worries quickly. The revelation had led to an interesting conversation about Phryne’s past experiences with women and what it meant to be attracted to both men and women.

As she had hoped, he was intrigued above all else. His curiosity and the questions that came with it, carried no trace of judgment. Phryne hadn't realized she could adore him any more than she already did but this made her heart very happy.

Jack found the idea fascinating. He had never really fancied another bloke, although he had to admit Lin had been rather handsome, in a sort of pretty way. And Samson. Imagining his strong arms in a lingering embrace did give Jack warmer than expected thoughts.

Jack was a romantic by nature, in love with being in love. He was the sort to fervently devote himself to his lover, almost to the point of worship. Therefore, he struggled with the very concept of taking more than one lover at a time, much less one of each gender.

Then Jack had a thought. Phryne’s cousin Guy and that blonde dynamo he married had been in a sort of relationship with that poor girl who was caught up in Foyle’s sadistic plans. They had both been rather enthusiastic about including other people in their lovemaking. Phryne and Guy appeared rather close, so Jack had to ask.

“So Phryne, have any of your dalliances been with both a man and a woman _at the same time_?”

Phryne decided the night called for complete honesty.

‘Yes Jack, yes they have. I have in fact been with two men, which was fun but somewhat awkward as the men navigated, their….” She swept a hand in the general direction of Jack’s penis.

“Ah, yes.” He cleared his throat. “I can see how that would be a curious challenge.”

“And, I have been with a man and woman together. And that, I have to say, approached the divine.”

The memory clearly ignited something in Phryne and Jack found himself intrigued to get to the heart of the raw desire he saw brimming under the surface. “Would you tell me about it? About them?”

“Why Detective, are you interrogating me?" She asked with feigned concern. "Do you plan to hold my assignations against me in some way?” She purred in his ear.

“I find there are many things I am desiring to hold against you.” He pulled her ever closer, his erection punctuating his words. “Now why don’t you tell me more about these adventures of yours. _Slowly_. You know how much a detective craves _details_.”


	5. Revelations

Jack had felt a mix of emotions when Phryne suggested that the two of them should spend the evening together with Rosie. He was worried the evening would be too much for her. He knew better than anyone that she showed fear by lashing out and taking an imperious tone. He knew he would be at pins and needles all night, trying to ensure that conversations stayed safe and comfortable for everyone. 

Mr. Butler greeted Jack at the door with a shot of whiskey and a cocktail on a tray. Jack thought to himself that while he knew he could survive without a woman to care for him if he and Phryne were to part ways, he was becoming less certain how he would adjust to a life without Mr. Butler. Hopefully, he would not have to find out any time soon.

However, while he appreciated the whiskey, the look on Mr. B’s face indicated that it might be more medicinal than cordial. Clearly, Phryne was up to something. That is when he heard the sound of two familiar laughs coming from the parlor. Jack momentarily froze. Then, giving Mr. B. a nod of gratitude, he drank the shot, squared up his shoulders, grabbed the cocktail and prudently approached the parlor.

So much for being on pins and needles all night worrying about Rosie. Once again, Phryne had managed to turn the tables on him. And now, he wondered if he should be the one who should be worried.

And there they were, sitting on the chaise, laughing like two old schoolmates. Jack was of two minds on this turn of events. On the one hand, he was pleased to see that two women he loved - _steady Jack, don’t go down that rabbit hole, Phryne practically reads your thoughts!_ -  had forged such a strong bond over these past couple of weeks. On the other, the idea of two women he had been intimate with, bent together in conspiratorial conversation, made him incredibly nervous. He knew it sounded vain, even in his own head, but how could he not be a topic of conversation? 

He leaned against the door-jamb and chose to observe the situation before jumping into the lion's den. What is Phryne up to with all this?

Rosie spotted him first. “Ah, speak of the Devil! Were your ears burning, Jack?” And, as if on cue, he felt the flush rushing to the tip of his right ear. Phryne had turned to look at him and immediately tried to stifle another wave of laughter. “Rosie, it is true. He really does only blush on that side.”

Jack’s fight or flight instincts were kicking in, but outwardly he tried to appear as nonchalant as possible. As if it were perfectly natural to find yourself invited to an evening with your ex-wife and your current lover, who themselves were...what exactly?

Jack tried to project confidence when he offered up, “I am not sure either of you wants to go down the route of revelations about who becomes flushed where and in what way on their person.”

Rosie and Phryne stole a glance at each other and tried to stifle their smiles. The exchange was not lost on Jack. The color drained from his face, his thumb and index finger rose to pinch the bridge of his nose. 

“Oh, come on Jack. Don’t look so terrified! You are not in hostile territory.”

Jack drained the rest of his cocktail and as if on cue, Mr Butler glided into the room with a tray of fresh cocktails. “Perfect timing as always Mr. B!” Phryne declared. 

Mr. Butler set down the tray on the end table and then exited just as smoothly as he had entered. Quietly shutting the doors behind him, for all intents and purposes, booting Jack from the comfort of the door-jamb and forcing him to meet his fate head on.

Jack edged his way towards the drink tray but instead of sliding onto one of the chairs, he went to his other place of safety, the fireplace mantel. 

Jack had suspected Rosie needed something, or even someone, different after he returned from the war. They cared for each other, but his post-war mental and physical challenges, coupled with her unnamed struggle, doomed their married life to that of companionable friendship instead of lovers and friends. That night he walked in on her with the writer, Jack had been angry at first, but melancholy quickly settled into its place. He never could stay angry at Rosie. 

Secretly though he had felt relief that night. This was a real and tangible tear in the fabric of their matrimonial bed. He could allay his self-flagellation for being a broken soldier and failed husband with the knowledge that he could try and change many things about himself, but this was not one of them. 

“Jack, you had neglected to mention that Rosie is directly related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”

“I didn’t peg you for a fan of fictional detectives and I know your opinions on mysticism. Your reading habits seem to lean towards more poetic or carnal pursuits.”

“I believe carnal pursuits are poetry, Jack, you know that. But you also know how much I love a good mystery!”

He set his mouth in that familiar twist of a half smile that often accompanied their banter. “Precisely Miss Fisher, therefore why would I deny you the opportunity to sleuth out more about Rosie? Or me, for that matter?”

“Oh you two!” Rosie broke in with feigned exasperation. “Must every conversation sound like foreplay?”

Jack’s eyebrows lifted in surprise “Rosie! Exactly how long have you two been drinking tonight?”

“Oh please, she does have a point Jack. And the better questions is, how long have we been drinking  _ today _ .”

“Oh, that is a very good question, Phryne.” Rosie nodded sagely. “I think you might have some catching up to do, Jack.” 

It was then that Jack noticed just how affected their speech was and that their free hands were now joined together. Jack tensed as a sudden idea came to him. Just how close had the two women become? Had Phryne not filled him completely the other night?

“If you brought me here tonight to break my heart Phryne, we best get to it then. Drawing it out is particularly cruel.” He had attempted a teasing tone but there was an undercurrent of actual concern that was hard to ignore.

Phryne looked perplexed for a moment but then she saw his pointed glance at their entwined fingers and realization dawned on her.

“Oh Jack, darling.” She quickly rose from her spot on the chaise and went to him at the mantel. “I could not possibly tire of you that quickly.” She ran her hands up his lapel pointedly and straightened his tie, which had been perfectly placed before-hand.

Rosie slipped up to the duo unnoticed as they were momentarily transfixed with each other. “It takes a lot to tire of you, Jack Robinson.” She purred before she slid a hand across his jaw, drew his face towards her, and kissed him warmly.

Jack was momentarily startled and started to pull away, but felt Phryne’s arm wrap around his neck, gently holding him in place. Rosie pulled back and Jack looked between her and Phryne in utter confusion. Phryne and Rosie looked at each other and smiled before joining together in a kiss of their own. Jack’s eyes opened wide, thoughts too jumbled to even attempt speech. 

It was one thing to know they had kissed, and quite another to witness it in such close quarters.

“That Mr. Butler really does know how to make a delicious cocktail." Rosie said rapturously as she languidly made her way back to the chaise. 

Jack was feeling dizzy, no doubt from both the rapidly consumed cocktails and the kisses. Phryne was right, he was clearly not in hostile territory, but he was wondering how he had wandered into Oz, as nothing felt like it used to before he crossed Phryne’s threshold this evening.

“Well, I see you two are getting along like a house on fire these days.” he offered up dryly. He gave Phryne a quizzical look before turning his attention to Rosie. He went and sat next to her. “So Rosie, I take it you are finding your explorations with Phryne…agreeable?”

Rosie bit her lip, the alcohol-fueled confidence momentarily diminished. “Being with Phryne is the safest I have ever felt with a woman. But Jack, I don’t want to hurt you, if this is too much….”

“Rosie, my love.” His tone was so soft and caring, both women felt their hearts puddle. “Phryne and I will be fine. I had some initial jealousy, but honestly, somehow her being with you does not bother me in the way it would if she took another man to her bed. Something that was confirmed a moment ago, watching you two kiss.”

“That’s because Phryne is so beautiful.”

“It is not just because you are  _ both _ beautiful, although unquestionably you are.”

Phryne sashayed from the mantel to stand by Jack. 

“Oh you two. If you keeping going like that, you’ll BOTH turn my head.” 

Jack pulled her down playfully to fall into his lap and kissed her. “You are incorrigible, Miss Fisher.”

Phryne giggled and then turned towards Rosie. “Do you think I am incorrigible too?”

Rosie smiled impishly. “Indubitably, Phryne. I am finding that to be one of my favorite of your qualities.” And then kissed her.

“So now that all of this is out in the open, are you going to be okay with us continuing our  _ explorations _ , darling?” Phryne asked Jack.

Jack looked at Phryne and reached up a hand to tenderly stroke her hair. “I know you well enough to understand you are asking for assurances and not my permission.” Phryne beamed up at him.

“And those I will give freely, if this is what you both desire.” He looked meaningfully at Rosie.

“Oh Jack, really? Thank you.” She reached out a hand to cup his jaw. 

Phryne, unable to remain serious any longer, adjusted her position on Jack’s lap. “Well Rosie, before you decide to canonize Jack, let’s remember that he will gain directly from this arrangement.”

Jack looked at Phryne with an expression of innocence. “In what way Miss Fisher?” The mischief in his voice, echoed in his eyes.

“I suspect I will be seduced into describing everything in vivid detail.” She said with mock anguish.

Rosie blushed and looked at Jack with wide eyes. “Jack Robinson! You really are back to your roguish ways, aren’t you!”

Jack turned towards Rosie, with such an impish expression Rosie felt a familiar flutter in her belly. 

In a voice that was pure whiskey and sex he said. “How could any man with blood running through his veins not be inspired to mischief with you two as inspiration.” He ran a hand from Rosie’s hair, down her cheek, past her elegantly strong jaw, down her neck.

The energy in the room began to crackle.

And that was when they heard the phone ringing in the hall. Soon after, there were footsteps and a discreet knock before the parlour doors opened. By then, Jack had dropped his hand back to his side and Phryne had slid to sit beside him on the chaise.

“So sorry, to interrupt Miss. I am afraid there is a rather urgent sounding call for the Inspector.”

Jack cleared his throat, more to clear his head than his voice. “Thank you Mr Butler. Pardon me ladies, apparently duty calls.” He rose stiffly, cursing the fates under his breath, and made his way to the phone.

Neither of the women could make out much of the conversation he was having. Jack seemed to be doing more listening than anything.

He returned after a few moments. “Alas, it appears I have to cut our evening short. Apparently there is a dust up at the gaol and my friend Elsie will speak to no but ‘the nicest copper this side of the river,’ so off I go.”

“Oh Jack, I think Elsie has you wrapped around her finger better than either Rosie or I ever could.” 

Jack shot Phryne a rueful look but was placated, as usual, by Phryne’s dazzling smile and the addition of her batting her eyelashes. He bent down to give her a kiss. Jack then picked up Rosie’s hand and planted a kiss before looking her into her eyes. “By all means, I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”

Rosie felt a flutter in her heart. As usual, with just a few words, Jack had spoken volumes. She met his gaze, hoping her eyes reflected the love and appreciation she had for him. “Thank you.”she said just barely above a whisper. 

Phryne grasped Rosie’s other hand and the two women watched him head out into the night.


	6. No interruptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starting up where we left off at Phryne's place. Time for Phryne to take Rosie to her "dreaming garden" at last.

Phryne brought her free hand up to Rosie’s jaw and brought her eyes in line with her own. “Perhaps, we would be more comfortable in my private parlor...upstairs?”

Rosie realized that she felt safe with Phryne. Phryne, who was looking at her with a mix of longing and tenderness. If she was ever going to take the plunge, this was the time, this was the night.

Her voice came out softly but confidently. “Yes Phryne, I think I would like that very much.”

Phryne tenderly brushed her lipstick off of Rosie to make her more presentable and then took her hand to lead her out of the parlor. Rosie nimbly pulled Phryne back to her and with her free hand smoothed out Phryne’s sleek bob from the tousled mess they had made of it.

Phryne sank her cheek into Rosie’s hand for a moment, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes were twinkling.

“Upstairs for sure, I am definitely not done with you yet. Follow my lead.”

Phryne opened up the parlor doors and they almost immediately bumped into Mr. Butler, going about his nightly routine.

“Ah, good evening Mr. B! Rosie and I are going to head up to my room for a bit. She needs a frock to go dancing in this weekend and I think I have just the thing for her to try on.”

“Ah, very good miss. Will you be requiring Dot at all?”

“Not tonight. I think I can manage a few buttons on my own. Good night!”

“Good night, Miss.”

“Good night!” Rosie called over her shoulder as Phryne pulled her along up the stairs.

Mr Butler looked very thoughtful as the two ladies scampered up the steps. The fact that they were holding hands was not lost on him. _Perhaps,_ he thought, _I should encourage Dot to make her bake sale delivery first thing in the morning to give Miss Sanderson time to make a more elegant exit. And I should polish an extra cup, in case she would like coffee or tea before departing._

_~~~~~_

When they were discreetly tucked away in Phryne’s private sanctuary, Rosie found herself led to the vanity where Phryne sat her down and methodically removed all of her hair pins. She helped loosen the curls, running her fingers through Rosie’s chestnut waves. She placed a tender kiss on Rosie’s shoulder and another at the base of her neck. She looked up to capture Rosie’s gaze in the mirror. Before she began suckling on her earlobe she whispered in Rosie’s ear, “You are an incredibly lovely woman Rosie.”

She showered Rosie with butterfly kisses before guiding Rosie around and to the short edge of the vanity bench so that she could slide herself behind her. She wrapped her arms around Rosie and drank in the scent of rose, jasmine and lily of the valley - wafting around her.

“This is your night, Rosie. We can do as much, or as little, as you are comfortable with this evening. Nothing you can do or say will embarrass me so do not hesitate in asking for anything.”

Rosie’s mind was swirling.

Rosie turned her head and their lips brushed, floating in front of each other, barely touching before joining in a kiss. Phryne slid her hands down to the hem of Rosie’s blouse, then let her fingers slide underneath. Phryne grazed her fingers over Rosie’s lace covered breasts, the friction pebbling Rosie’s nipples, before carefully urging the blouse over Rosie’s head. Phryne slid off the bench to kneel in front of Rosie. She unfastened Rosie’s skirt and coaxed her hips up so she could slide the garment down her legs to the floor.

Rosie wore an alluring set of lace and silk camiknickers that showed off her slender figure, and strained to contain her full breasts. Phryne unclasped the buckles of Rosie’s kitten-heeled pumps and set them aside. Rosie shivered as Phryne’s fingers reached the flesh at the top of her thighs to release the stays of her stockings. She slowly slid the stockings down Rosie’s legs, letting her lips follow the path of the stockings down to each dainty ankle. Phryne looked up to see that Rosie had let her head fall back, which only made her more appealing.

Phryne put a hand on the inside of each of Rosie’s shapely calves and ran her fingertips up in one steady motion to the very tops of her thighs. Rosie gasped in surprise. Phryne kissed her way up her legs, adding slips of her tongue as she gingerly made her way closer to the edge of the camiknickers.

Rosie felt her pulse quicken. She had imagined this scene a dozen times in the past week. And, before Phryne, it had been a favorite fantasy that played out with countless other women.

“Are you sure, Rosie?”

Breathlessly she replied. “Yes.”

She had tried to tell herself that it would not be that different than with a man. That the physical act was the same. But as Phryne pulled her undergarments aside and she felt Phryne’s lips and tongue ease their way around her entrance she realized just how untrue that was. The exquisite softness of Phryne’s lips against her most intimate parts was entirely different. She felt Phryne’s hands gently coax her legs farther apart and she willingly complied.

Jack had a wonderful technique, and she had loved that he eagerly wanted to please her in this way when they were together. So it was unfair to say Phryne was better at it than he, but it was just so exquisitely different. Rosie let herself melt into the experience.

Phryne was very creative with her tongue, alternating between licking, suckling and fluttering. Rosie found herself curling the fingers of one hand into Phryne’s silky black bob while balancing herself on the bench with the other. Phryne urged a leg up and over her shoulder. The adjusted angle gave her access to a particularly sensitive spot inside Rosie. Rosie felt her arousal surge anew and instead of feeling self-conscious about dripping all over Phryne’s vanity bench, along with her pretty cheeks, she felt exalted. She allowed herself to be worshipped as Phryne grabbed her ass to pull her closer. Phryne’s tongue crested over the full expanse of Rosie’s clitoris.

“Oh, Phryne! God, that feels so good.” Each word tumbled out of her on a wave of pleasure. Her breathing quickened becoming shallower. “More, please more.” She found herself begging of Phryne.

Rosie caught a glimpse of her own profile in the vanity mirror with the top of Phryne’s head just visible buried between her thighs. She had never seen such an erotic image before. The fact that she was playing the lead in this erotic story sent her over the edge and she came completely undone.

_She even has an elegant orgasm_ ** _-_ ** Phryne thought to herself.

Phryne rested her head on Rosie’s thigh to catch her breath. She felt Rosie’s arousal cooling on her cheeks. She loved that she had been able to make Rosie that wet, and she felt her own arousal dampening her silk tap pants. She also noted how dark Rosie’s clit had become. She had not had a partner flush in that particular area before and it only made her wetter to think about. “Mmm, you're delicious.” She placed a kiss on Rosie’s soft inner thigh before standing up. She reached a hand down to Rosie and helped her to stand.

Without heels on they were closer to the same height. Rosie slid her arms around Phryne’s waist and kissed her roughly, her breathing still erratic from her climax. She slid her hands down to cup Phryne’s backside, pulling their bodies tightly together.

When they separated to breathe Phryne was all coquettish charm. “How do you feel now, adventuress?”

“Hungry for more.”Came the husky reply.

Phryne licked her lips. “Then I think it is time for bed.”

Rosie and Phryne worked together to extricate each other from their remaining clothes. Feverishly kissing each other’s flesh as it was exposed. Phryne used her camisole to dab up the remaining drips from Rosie that remained on her face. Then Phryne led her to the bed and gently pushed her down. They glorified in the sensations of breast against breast and the heat pulsating between them. They found themselves enchanted by the unique scent their bodies created together.

Rosie nibbled and sucked at Phryne’s nipple as she let her fingers wander down Phryne’s taut torso. “I want you to feel as good as I do.” Rosie murmured as she switched to Phryne’s other breast. She continued to trail her fingers down Phryne’s abdomen and let them drift through Phryne’s curls. “Show me how to please you.”

Phryne guided Rosie’s fingers down to her labia. She coaxed a finger inside, letting Rosie get her bearings inside of her. Rosie felt how wet Phryne already was and suspected that she could easily add a second finger, so she did. Phryne mewed in pleasure. “You are a quick study,” she murmured into Rosie’s ear.

Phryne guided Rosie’s hand into a steady pace. Rosie had long elegant fingers and Phryne wanted to use them to their best advantage, so she slid a leg up to Rosie’s hip so that she could deepen her impact. “Just a bit faster Rosie, yes, just like that.” Phryne’s face was beginning to flush. “Ungh, add another finger.” She pleaded. Rosie slid one more inside her and was rewarded with a small shudder and an excited noise from Phryne. “Now, curl your fingers. Yes, just like that.”

Rosie was emboldened by Phryne’s quickening breaths, her urgent words of encouragement and the way her skin was beginning to show fine beads of sweat. Phryne’s unblemished porcelain skin was becoming flushed like a protea flower under her breasts. She could feel Phryne’s arousal dripping through her fingers and the smell of her was thrilling. Rosie was motivated by some primal instinct to bring her teeth to Phryne’s neck where she licked and sucked. Not enough to leave a mark but enough to send a delicous current of electricity through her torso. Phryne let out an audible gasp of surprise mixed with pleasure. Rosie suddenly bit Phryne’s neck. “Fuck Rosie! No, don’t stop. DO NOT STOP.”

Rosie continued to pump her fingers while nuzzling Phryne's neck until she felt Phryne’s entire body shudder and her inner walls pulse around her fingers. They kissed each other desperately, as if it were a moral imperative. Deep, sloppy kisses, and a clashing of tongues as they tried to consume each other. Rosie still had two fingers inside Phryne and as they continued to fumble around each other she swept her thumb over Phryne’s clit. Phryne’s shuddering second release and throaty scream surprised them both.

Rosie curled around Phryne to feel her aftershocks tremble across her skin. The moment was exquisite, like nothing she had ever experienced. Trembling breast against trembling breast, nipples pebbling and softening against each other, Rosie’s soft hair draped over them both, fluids running down their entwined legs. Rosie wasn’t given to flights of fancy in general, but in that moment, she envisioned them as mermaids washed ashore together. The flutter of Phryne’s long lashes against her cheek like the feather of a sea bird drifting to earth.

And as Phryne’s trembles became her own they held each other steadfastly until the waves died down and the tide of passion receded.


	7. A different kind of gaudy night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosie could not deny the thrill she had felt seeing the state of disarray that Phryne and Jack were in when the door had closed. To hear that she might have been the inspiration for it sent a wave of desire to her belly. Were they really suggesting what she thought they were? Did she want that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, because here we go! You all have been so lovely and patient. This is your reward....well, one of them.  
> This one's a long chapter but I suspected you all would rather soldier forth and read this scene in its entirety than having it broken up.

Jack was bustling around his bungalow, putting the finishing touches on dinner and making sure the fire was started and the log bin stocked up. He had decided against the suit jacket as he was going about his tasks and instead was clad only in his waistcoat over a collared shirt.

Jack’s presence at Wardlow had become a foregone conclusion (at all hours of the day and night), but her visits to his home were usually at an hour far past what anyone would call decent. But at present, Phryne’s home was bustling with not only the usual comings and goings of her found family, but the unexpected addition of Phryne’s father, visiting from England. Therefore, the idea of a quiet, intimate evening with just the two of them sounded like just what the doctor ordered.

Technically, it is exactly what the doctor had ordered, as just yesterday Mac felt they were “fussing” too much in her morgue and needed a night to “just get on with it. Whatever ‘it’ is.”

Phryne was fashionably late, as always, but she was brandishing an expensive bottle of wine and a package of fresh-baked biscuits. The latter courtesy of Dot.

“Good evening, Inspector!”

“Good evening, Miss Fisher.”

They were always formal with each other until his door closed. Jack’s way of trying to avoid adding fuel to the neighborhood gossips. As soon as the door clicked shut though Jack was helping her out of her coat in a very ungentlemanly way.

“Phryne, you smell of cookies, roses, and sex. It is a good thing that dinner is out of the oven or I might burn the house down.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought his lips to hers. He took her bottom lip in his mouth and gently sucked, then switched to the top lip.

“If we keep going like this, we may still burn the house down, Jack.” Phryne looked up at him with such passion, he felt for a second as if they might well be consumed by actual flames. She threw her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair.

Between kisses he said. “I was just trying to follow Doctor's orders, Phryne.”

“Mmmhmmm. In that case darling, I could be persuaded to go with dessert first. For medicinal purposes.”

They hadn’t yet made it out of Jack’s foyer before his waistcoat was discarded and her gloves dispatched, hands fumbling to find other clasps and buttons to release.

“Don’t think you can distract me completely, Miss Fisher.” Jack uttered between kisses. “I definitely want to hear how the rest of the evening went with Rosie the other night.”

“What cheek, Jack! What makes you so sure there’s something to tell? Or that you possess the skills to inveigle me into telling it?” Phryne’s eyes flashed with pure mischief, daring him to try.

“Even pirate girls from Collingwood can be made to talk, Phryne.” He playfully but strongly grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head against the wall. “My interrogation skills can be quite compelling.”

“My goodness Inspector! Not sure I am yet compelled to spill my secrets, but I dare say my enthusiasm for participating in this interrogation grows by the minute.”

Without removing his hands from her wrists, Jack leaned over and began unfastening the tie of her capelet with his teeth. Phryne slightly whimpered.

“Start talking, Miss Fisher.” Jack’s low rumble reverberated across her clavicle, sending delicious pulses of sound to all of her most sensitive areas.

Phryne found this version of Jack incredibly sexy already but couldn’t wait to find out what he might be like if she ramped up his arousal a notch with talking about Rosie. She began regaling Jack with the tale of her assignation with Rosie. Leaving no detail out.

As Phryne talked, Jack continued kissing and caressing Phryne with only his lips and teeth. He had already loosened one strap from her dress and was beginning on the other one when there was a knock at the door.

Jack was inclined to ignore it. He was quite focused on listening to Phryne’s very detailed story, undressing Phryne and the erection that was growing in his trousers. The knocking became louder and more insistent. Finally, Phryne stopped talking, struck by a thought. Her hooded eyes flew open wide.

“Rosie’s at the door!” she declared.

“What?!” asked Jack, utterly confused. How could Phryne know who was at the door, much less that it was Rosie?

“Jack, I may have forgotten to mention that Rosie rang earlier and said she had news. When I told her I was coming here, she said that was perfect, as she wanted to see us together.”

Jack flashed her an incredulous look.

“You distracted me.” Phryne pouted prettily.

Jack reluctantly released Phryne and went to the door. He tentatively opened it a few inches, trying to shield his tented trousers from whoever was on the other side. And, as Phryne surmised, it was indeed Rosie.

“Rosie! Please, come in.”

“Jack! I was beginning to wonder just what I was interrupting. I saw Phryne’s Hispano outside. Did she forget to tell you I was coming?” Rosie had just crossed the threshold when she was able to get a good look at both of them. They were flushed, Phryne was half dressed and Jack looked out of breath, covered in Phryne’s lipstick.

“Hello, Rosie.” Phryne flashed her a disarming smile. She reached out to Rosie and pulled the taller woman into an embrace. “Were your ears burning? We were just talking about you.”

“Hello Phryne. My ears were not burning, but I fear the rest of me might be.” Rosie felt her pulse quicken as Phryne pulled her into her arms. She had been thinking about her since the other night.

“I am so sorry, I believe I was indeed interrupting something.” Rosie paused, clearly trying to articulate what she wanted to say. Among the images that had filled Rosie’s private moments with pleasure since her night with Phryne was the sight of Phryne draped over Jack right before Phryne leaned over to kiss her. It surprised her just how erotic that simple moment had been and how vividly she remembered it despite all that had taken place after it.

She shook her head as the right words escaped her and finally went with the safest thing she could think of saying. “Perhaps it’s better if I drop by the station tomorrow instead.” Rosie started to pull away from Phryne’s arms. She was feeling flustered.

“On the contrary Rosie, I think both Jack and I would like you to stay.” She pulled Rosie closer and kissed her meaningfully. Then she tipped Rosie’s face towards Jack. “Do you see the effect you have on him Rosie? That’s from hearing about our adventures.” Rosie’s beautifully chiseled cheekbones blushed crimson.

Jack finally snapped out of his haze and quickly reached out for Rosie. “And I find I can’t get the image out of my mind.” He closed the gap between himself and the two beauties in front of him. Phryne’s description of her night with Rosie was playing over and over in his mind, and now, here was the woman herself.

“Please, stay.” Jack’s voice was thick with lust. Jack felt an incredible craving to see them together with his own eyes. He was shocked by his own licentiousness, the longing in his groin almost painful. He wasn’t totally sure what he was asking of them but knew that he couldn’t let this moment pass.

Rosie could not deny the thrill she had felt seeing the state of disarray that Phryne and Jack were in when the door had closed. To hear that she might have been the inspiration for it sent a wave of desire to her belly. Were they really suggesting what she thought they were? Did she want that? Being with Phryne had been thrilling and beautiful—did she want to keep that for herself, or was she willing to share? But she wasn’t sharing with just anyone, this was Jack. She found herself staring at Jack’s lips, remembering how they felt against her. And that smolder in his eyes sent a wave of heat through her body, as if her muscles could recall every caress from his strong hands.

“Rosie?” It was Phryne who spoke. She was running a hand up her arm, her touch reassuring but the feel of her fingers sending electricity across Rosie’s skin. She shivered at the sensation. When she turned her head to face Phryne, Rosie saw the heat in her eyes and she made her decision.

“Yes.” Was all Rosie could muster, letting out the breath she had been holding. Phryne leaned in to kiss her. Unlike the other night in front of Jack, this was not a gentle kiss. The two women kissed enthusiastically. No longer needing to keep their arousal in check.

Jack’s breath hitched as he watched but he hesitated only a moment before taking a step closer. The women took a moment to breathe and it was then that they both turned towards him. Phryne’s smile was wanton, Rosie’s was willing.

Jack decided to start with willing and leaned over to Rosie. Their lips caressing each other before slipping into a deep, uninhibited kiss. Phryne still had one hand on Rosie’s arm but took the other and stroked the back of Jack’s neck.

Jack took a breath and shifted over to Phryne, kissing her just as passionately, his tongue seeking hers hungrily. He took one hand and wrapped it around Phryne’s waist, settling his hand on her derrière and the other slid up Rosie’s chest, settling on a breast. He found himself caressing Phryne’s bottom while stroking Rosie’s nipple. Both women released sighs of encouragement.

From there it became a flurry of caresses and strokes and clothing being shed. They left a trail of silks, satins, buttons, braces, wool and lace. The trio finally stumbled from the drafty entryway to the cozy confines of Jack’s parlor.

Rosie and Phryne tumbled naked onto the couch, Phryne's’ kisses ghosting across Rosie's breasts and trailing down her torso. Rosie let her arms fall back above her head. Jack paused to watch, quite sure he had never seen a more beautiful sight in his entire life.

Jack imagined he had stepped inside a Rembrandt painting. The humble woodsman who stumbles upon a grove of nymphs. And Jack was humble, or rather humbled, and grateful to be in the presence of these two incredible women.

Jack hung back and watched as Phryne covered Rosie's breasts in soft caresses and kisses. Jack tentatively reached out to gently caress Phryne’s backside.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, his voice a husky mix of lust and reverence. He was hesitant as to what to do and where to be. He was finding it strange to be present, yet not a full participant in lovemaking. Strange but incredibly erotic.

Phryne's nostrils filled with the musky scent of Rosie. Phryne could feel her own excitement mounting as she crawled her way down Rosie’s body, drawn to the warmth emanating from between Rosie’s legs. She teased Rosie by trailing kisses along the tender flesh of her inner thigh and traced her tongue along the crease where leg and torso connected.

Then Phryne plunged herself into Rosie’s beautiful inner lips. She found herself once again intoxicated by Rosie’s scent and taste. Her tongue alternated between teasing and exploring before settling into a gentle rhythm along her clitoris.

Jack was finally spurred to action watching Phryne writhing over Rosie and listening to Rosie’s sounds of encouragement. He sank to his knees and bent over, placing soft lips in the small of Phryne's back. As he flicked his tongue out and drew it up her spine he felt Phryne proffer her hips as if in invitation.

“Jack,” Rosie gasped as Phryne’s talented tongue caressed one of her sweet spots. “I want to see you inside her.”

Without releasing her mouth from Rosie, Phryne whimpered in agreement. For further encouragement she adjusted her body over the arm of the couch, thereby raising her hips up to afford him better access.

Jack didn’t need to be asked twice, the great throbbing of his cock was almost growing painful with excitement. He stood up, slid off his smalls and moved himself into place behind Phryne. He let his fingers confirm that she was more than ready to take him inside her. He could feel Phryne's arousal dripping down her leg. He teased her with his tip for a few strokes before sinking into her, surprised and thrilled with how deep he was able to go.

Phryne’s deep moan of pleasure and Rosie’s echoing response spurred him on and he quickly found a steady, strong rhythm. His eyes instinctively fluttered closed to take in all of the sensations, but he forced them back open so that he would not miss any of the tableau before him.

Rosie and Jack’s eyes met. They had not shared a look like that in well over a decade. They had continued to have sex periodically as their marriage unraveled, but this level of unbridled passion and intimacy had disappeared years before. Seeing their own desire mirrored in the other’s eyes they exchanged a smile that said _yes, I missed this too._

Although it had never been quite like this, had it?

Rosie moved to run her fingers through the silky black fringe of her new lover. She loved the feel of it against her skin. She settled her hands on the back of Phryne’s head and encouraged the deeper sucking and licking she had started.

Jack fell into a rhythm with his hip thrusts that Phryne matched with her tongue. Rosie felt herself riding a wave of energy and could feel her breath speeding up. She let her thighs fall open, surrendering herself further to Phryne. Phryne moved her tongue up and around, brushing along a new and sensitive spot that Rosie felt her body undulating to in response, softly crying out in pleasure. She was surprised when her body did not release, but instead seemed to tighten like a coil. She felt the electricity continue to build up in her glans, causing a current she felt all the way to her nipples. Her toes curled. Another tongue swirl and she screamed as the pent up energy finally broke free.

Jack heard Rosie cry out and lost himself completely. She had never been particularly vocal when they made love. She usually whimpered or sometimes cried out softly in a contented sigh when she came, but this, this was altogether different.

He felt a wave of pleasure ripple through this whole body that caused him to ram into Phryne hard and fast. As their bodies slapped together, Rosie roused herself up from the couch, leaned over, lightly grabbed Phryne by her hair, and brought their mouths together in a deep and unyielding kiss. Jack had reached his limit, unable to hold back any further, he let go completely inside Phryne with an inarticulate cry of his own.

~

When Phryne released her mouth from Rosie she was breathless and arched her back to deepen Jack’s impact on her. She had felt his increased excitement when Rosie had cried out and relished how his hands grasped her hips tightly, his movements both faster and harder than was his usual style. She locked eyes with Rosie and was excited when Rosie grabbed her hair to kiss her. The force of the kiss and her commanding tongue were such a delicious contrast to the softness of Rosie’s lips. When Jack came inside her it was pure magic.

Rosie then grabbed Phryne by the shoulders and rotated their bodies so that she could gently but firmly place Phryne on the couch.

“No,” Jack’s voice was huskier than usual and both women felt a shudder run through them that negated any concern with his interruption.

Phryne gave Jack a questioning look but saw that his avidity for this new enterprise had not diminished. In fact, it might have increased. But she also saw a bit of hesitation.

Jack was struggling to find the words for what exactly it was he wanted. He looked at Phryne desperately and willed her to sort through the lust-clouded thoughts in his brain.

A wicked smile spread across her face. She had a feeling she knew what he wanted and realized the idea excited her as well. She turned back to Rosie, gave her another deep kiss before slowly rising off the couch. Rosie slid to the rug then sat up on her knees looking back and forth between the two of them in a bit of confusion.

“I want to see you fuck him, Rosie”

Rosie was feeling a little light-headed. She was both inflamed by Phryne’s assertiveness and the thought of having Jack inside her again. But she was also...nervous?

She glanced almost shyly at Jack and was thrilled to see the twinkle in his eyes as he knelt down to join her on the rug. A sly smile crept across his features as he reached for her. He looked almost exactly like he did 16 years earlier when they stole that evening together before their wedding.

Actually no, Rosie realized, he had grown even more handsome since then. The small lines that now gathered at his eyes were even more compelling than before. His jaw was now finely chiseled and the lines around his smile etched a little deeper. He was more interesting-looking now, distinguished but no longer as world-weary as he had been. Rosie put her hand in his and he brought it to his lips in a soft kiss. Without taking his eyes off of hers, he slowly brought her fingertips into his mouth, softly sucked each one in turn. He then moved his lips to her palm before trailing kisses up her arm. She drew closer to him and nuzzled against his chest and neck.

_My Jack, what a gift to have one more night with my Jack._

His scent was the same comforting mix of hair pomade, whiskey, shaving cream and musk, but now there was another layer. Phryne. Rosie’s nipples hardened as she caught this new uniquely layered perfume. She looked up at him and for the second time that night they seemed to be of the same mind. They kissed deeply, both savoring the intoxicating mix of the familiar with the exotic.

Rosie reached out an arm towards Phryne and beckoned her to join their embrace on the rug, closer to the fire. They came back to where this whole adventure started, with lips, tongues, and soft caresses. Jack’s excitement was easy to gauge (and his recovery time admirable) but Phryne wanted to make sure Rosie was ready as well. She slid her hand over Rosie’s thigh and felt her wetness coat her fingertips. Satisfied, Phryne helped guide her onto Jack’s trunk-like, muscular thighs. She allowed her hands to linger on Rosie’s breasts, as she settled herself next to Rosie, kissing and licking her neck as Rosie and Jack settled into a rhythm together.

Phryne sat back to watch the former lovers. She was intrigued to see how they made love to each other. The places their hands went to instinctively, years of muscle-memory playing out before her eyes.

Far from being awkward or jealous, Phryne found it thrilling to observe Rosie map out an entirely different path across his body. Phryne found she liked to start with the sensitive spot behind Jack’s ear but Rosie began with his nipple first. Rosie then made her way up his chest to his throat, nipping at his jaw before taking an earlobe into her mouth and nibbling. Jack shivered.

Rosie leaned away from him briefly and the tender gaze they shared was so intimate it captivated Phryne. Phryne felt her own nipples stiffen as Jack pressed lips, tongue and teeth across Rosie’s breasts. He let his tongue trace circles around the dark salmon of her areolas. Rosie let her head fall back to give Jack greater access and Phryne took the liberty of leaning over to take Rosie’s lips into her own.

Phryne found that one of her favorite things about being with women was the luxurious feel of velvety lips. And Rosie’s lips did not disappoint.

Rosie and Jack did not have much experience in the upright position facing each other that they found themselves in, but Rosie was quickly learning to enjoy the possibilities it afforded. She let her body undulate in his lap, relishing the chance to help set their pace. Being with Jack was so familiar and yet filled with new sensations from this angle.

She gasped as his tongue traced her areolas, he knew the right amount of pressure to skirt the line between pleasure and pain. Rosie let her eyes flutter closed as she reveled in every sensation. She loved the contrast of Phryne’s softness to Jack’s taut muscles and angles. Exploring Phryne’s mouth while Jack pulsed inside her sent an enormous current of arousal through her. She dug her nails into his back as she let the surge run its course.

Phryne let her fingers trail down her own chest, across her breasts and down her torso before plunging fingers inside herself. She had yet to seek her own release and she was dripping wet at this point in anticipation. She thought to herself that of all of her past experiences, she couldn’t remember being in quite this heightened of a state of arousal.

When she felt the hand on her wrist Phryne’s eyes fluttered up from her preoccupation of where Jack and Rosie were joined together to meet Jack’s gaze. He proceeded to bring her dripping fingers from their warm spot deep inside herself to his mouth. He greedily sucked two of the fingers in question before offering the third to Rosie. Rosie made a point of taking in the entirety of Phryne’s strong but elegant digit, keeping a searing gaze on Phryne as she did it. Phryne shivered at the sight, the need for release growing, until she was convinced she would burst. Jack replaced Phryne’s fingers with his own and thrust three inside her. Rosie placed her own slender fingers over Phryne’s clit, massaging it. Phryne lay back a bit, until her back reached the front of the couch. Phryne thrust her hips to meet their hands and it didn’t take long for a bone-melting orgasm to overtake her. But far from stopping, she gently pushed on Jack’s chest, settling him back on the rug.

“Did you enjoy tasting me, darling?” she leaned over and purred in his ear. He bucked his hips up as the tone of her voice coursed through him, which in turn caused Rosie to cry out in a pleasurable mew.

“Yes,” he panted, “Phryne, you know I love how you taste.”

“Excellent darling. Are you ready to taste me again?”

Jack struggled to put full sentences together and just slowly licked his lips in response. His pupils dilated, causing his eyes to appear like sapphires in the fire light.

Jack watched in anticipation as a beautifully creamy leg passed over his face and then his vision filled with her beautiful backside settling on his chest just below his throat. He lifted his head and took a playful nibble of her left cheek.

“Mmmm, that’s the spirit Jack! Now, get ready for me.”

Jack was stunned. Phryne raised herself up a bit on her thighs and backed up until her dripping wet, beautiful internal lips presented themselves above his own. His tongue stretched out, exploring her. The low, guttural sound she made encouraged him, or was that Rosie? He was surrounded and full of both of them. Rosie began grinding harder on his cock. He wanted to let go but felt that he needed to hold back until Phryne came again. She was so close, he could literally taste it.

Rosie was in awe of Phryne as she watch her confidently mount Jack while facing her. A dozen thoughts raced through Rosie’s brain but she did her best to not overthink anything at that moment. Instead, she followed Phryne’s lead and leaned towards her, the two catching each other in an embrace. Fingers intertwine in hair, tongues dart between swollen lips, cries intermingle. Rosie’s excitement was growing like a wave about to crest and she drove her hips harder and harder over Jack. Full of him, full of Phryne, she was nearing the need for release but wanted, no needed to see Phryne come undone. She trailed kisses down Phryne’s throat to her breasts. She used her tongue and lips to tease Phryne, using small quick movements of her tongue on her lover’s sensitive right nipple.

Phryne felt her breathing quickening to a pant. The pulses of pleasure started to fall in on themselves as her body readied for a second release. Phryne had the briefest of realizations that Rosie and Jack were moving their tongues as one just before she lost herself to the explosion of energy that flooded through every part of her body. Her nipples were tingling with electricity, her thighs trembling, and she felt a surge of warmth from her hair to her toes. All she could do was cry out in complete and utter release. Ecstasy rippled through her and she perceived, more than observed, both of her lovers pausing to take her in completely.

She slid off Jack’s face and melted into Rosie’s embrace. Rosie had stopped moving on Jack during Phryne’s climax but began again as she slowly stroked Phryne’s arms and back. She stirred her hips in a circular motion.

“Oh fuck, Rosie, that feels…so...good.” she heard a husky voice call out from behind Phryne. Jack talking dirty had been one of her guilty pleasures during their lovemaking. Hearing it now sent a shiver through her.

“Yes, Rosie, fuck me, please.”

Through some sort of erotic sixth sense, Phryne picked up on the reason behind Rosie’s renewed excitement. She adjusts her legs, resting them on the outside of Jack’s thighs so that she can lean forward and whisper encouragement in Rosie’s ear.

“Do you like how he feels inside you right now?”

Rosie whimpered and breathlessly said “Yes.”

“The way his stiff, hard cock is pulsing with heat.” She practically hisses the word and Rosie’s feels a flush from cheeks to breasts.

“Rosie, my Rosie. So sweet and fuckable,” Jack breathes.

“Do you love how wet he makes you, makes...us?” Phryne guides Rosie’s fingers inside her so there is no mistaking that Phryne is still aroused.

“Oh fuck, Phryne!” Rosie utters. Her nipples are so stiff with arousal they feel like they could cut glass.

Jack is reduced to panting, capable only of guttural sounds of pleasure.

Phryne slid off both of them and settled partially behind Rosie, turning her body so that she could lock onto his gaze. She wanted him to watch her as she slid her hands over Rosie’s breasts, leaned over Rosie’s ear and in a very husky stage whisper, said “Come for me.”

Jack completely unraveled and the bucking of his hips in release pushed Rosie right over the edge as well.

“Phryne!” they cried out together, Rosie’s scream in harmony with Jack’s bellow.

Two lovers screaming her name at once sent a wave of heat and an unexpected shuddering response through Phryne down to her toes. The three of them collapsed on the rug in a tangle of limbs, completely and utterly spent.

For the next brief moments of consciousness, each is only able to take in the feel of the rug against their skin. The heat coming off the body next to them. The coolness of the air in the room, raising goosebumps on exposed flesh. The ragged sound of breathing trying to settle itself. The lingering scent of musk, sweat, and perfume.


	8. Sunrise, Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after. “I would ask a penny for your thoughts but after last night, I am sure a penny woefully undervalues them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more official chapter after this one. Thanks again for the tremendous comments and messages.

Jack woke to answer the call of nature around the time dawn began to break. He realized it was just himself and Phryne curled up on the rug. Leaving the lavatory, he went to retrieve his robe from the bedroom but it was gone. He grabbed a blanket instead to wrap around himself and wanders out back to his tiny porch. He found Rosie there, in his missing robe, sitting on the steps that lead down to the garden.

“I would ask a penny for your thoughts but after last night, I am sure a penny woefully undervalues them.”

Rosie returned his quip with a quiet smile. He sat on the step next to her, but with space between them.

“The one thing I will miss until the end of my days is the sound of your voice in the morning, Jack.”

With his hair rumpled and eyes still sleepy, his features had that boyish charm that melted her heart all those years ago, only enhanced by the sheepish look at the compliment she was giving him.

“I did always love catching you in the morning light, Rosie. I hated to leave you for work but was always grateful that your smile was the last thing I saw as I went out the door. I guess you could say we were a sunrise sort of couple.”

“That’s awfully philosophical for this time of the morning, Jack. Does that mean you and Phryne are the couple of the setting sun?”

Jack chuckled softly, “Well, she certainly isn’t a morning person.”

As if on cue they could hear the sound of soft snoring coming from inside the house. They looked at each other and tried to stifle their laughter.

“How are you doing this morning, Rosie? Last night was…”

“Last night hardly feels real, Jack. I keep thinking I should feel more shame or embarrassment—” he opened his mouth to interject but she put a finger to his lips—“but I find that I don’t. It was incredibly overwhelming, though. If it had not been with the two of you, I am not sure I would have been able to go through with it.”

“I confess I was not convinced I was going to be able to go through with it once we started. But the idea of sharing something intimate with two women I lov…”

Jack flushed deeply and looked back anxiously at the house.

“She knows Jack. She may hide from it being said aloud, but she knows.”

“And you Rosie? Do you know how much I still love you?”

She closed the gap between them and he wrapped a lean but strong arm around her.

“Yes, I do Jack. And I love you. I will always love you. I also know that you are head over heels in love with Phryne.”

“Heaven help me, I am,” he said quietly.

“Dear, passionate Jack. Try and look less miserable. She is in love with you too.” Rosie uttered in a stage whisper. “None of this,” she gestured broadly between them and towards the house. “None of this would have happened if she did not have such strong feelings for you. Or, if we did not still trust each other, Jack. ”

“I wish you could have seen how beautiful you were together last night, Rosie.” Jack leaned his head on her shoulder. “I have to say I am flattered and a bit surprised that you two even wanted me to be there, much less participate. I thought once you had made love to a woman you would be well and done with men, much less the likes of your old ball and chain.”

“Turns out, it is not as simple as all that.” She nudged him with her hip. “ And, let me be perfectly clear, you were never my ‘ball and chain.’”

He looked up to give her an incredulous look, cocking an eyebrow for emphasis.

“Okay, perhaps at the very end when we had retreated from each other to neutral camps. But in all seriousness, I discovered a very interesting truth about myself after being with Phryne. It was utterly incredible, but as it turns out, I find myself very much still attracted to you and your maleness.”

“My maleness?” Jack sat up straight and looked at her, an incredibly amused look on his face.

She scrunched her nose as she heard how awkward she must have sounded. Then she slid a hand through a gap in the blanket to lightly stroke his inner thigh. Jack shivered.

“Talking dirty was always your gift, not mine, darling. So yes, your maleness.” She let her fingers wander from his thigh to his pelvic bone. “Life keeps showing me that there are no absolutes.” Rosie continued thoughtfully. “I have learned so many lessons about myself these past few weeks, but am realizing I have only scratched the surface.”

She gently grazed her nails across his cock as she said it. Jack gasped but otherwise remained silent. He leaned back on his arms to steady himself.

“I love that Phryne was able to rebuild herself after having so many heinous things happen to her and her family. I have had a contemptible thing happen with Father and Sidney but it does not have to define me. I went from daughter, to wife, to divorcée, to fiancée. There was very little time to just be Rosie.”

Rosie’s fingers gently stroked him and his thigh in sort of a lazy figure eight pattern. Of all her quirks, her nervous hands was one that Jack found the most charming. She never seemed sure what to do with her hands when she was thoughtful, so they were free to move around on their own. However, right now, her mindless gestures were definitely making it hard for Jack to concentrate on what she was saying.

“That’s why I came over last night. I wanted to let you know that I am heading out on my own for a few months, perhaps longer. I leave in three days for Britain. I am planning to visit with my mother’s relations, the Conan Doyles. Cousin Mary is having a tough time of it with her stepmother, and Sir Arthur’s health seems to be ailing. Perhaps we can endeavour to raise up each other’s spirits.”

“Rosie…”

The strained urgency in his voice broke her distracted musings and she finally realized just what she had been doing with her hand.

“Oh! Jack, you should have stopped me.”

He tilted his head giving her an aporetic look. She was once again struck by how devilishly handsome he was with his cheeks flushed and his hair tousled. This brought an impish smile to Rosie’s lips, and she began sliding to her knees in front of Jack, but he stopped her.

“Rosie, it sounds like this may be one of our last opportunities to be together. I want to make every moment count.” And with that, he reached out to take her hands. Rosie grasped his hands and as she straightened her robe slipped down a shoulder. Her sun-kissed skin looked beautiful in the morning light. The soft waves of her hair picked up the sunlight, leaving Jack momentarily breathless. He loved that Rosie was a study in contrasts. Soft waves against sharp cheekbones. Full, round soft breasts that were unexpected on her svelte frame, echoed in her fuller hips that led to long and slender thighs.

He brought his hands to her waist and his long fingers pulled her closer, lavishing kisses along her breasts and down to her abdomen as he loosened the knot of the robe. Jack’s lips were unhurried and each time his lips brushed her skin she felt a delicious warmth flare through her. By the time his tongue began tracing the shape of her nipples she could feel her toes curling.

He pulled her closer so that she could straddle his hips to sit on his lap. Her beautiful Jack, all angles and taut muscles, softened by his capricious wavy hair and soft full lips. She was glad that she would have this moment with him all to herself. Last night had been luscious, Phryne was a hedonistic force of nature, but Rosie found that right now, she did not want to share Jack. She wanted her Jack back just once more. The Jack from before the war. Although really, the best of both Jacks. The Jack Robinson with the joyful heart beating inside the experienced Detective Inspector. Yes, this was a Jack she needed to experience all for herself, even if it was the only time.

Jack cocooned them in his blanket to ward off the morning chill and she guided him inside her. They both moaned softly. They sat like that for several long moments, feasting on each other with their eyes, savoring the familiarity of each other. Rosie was realizing that this position was quickly becoming a favorite.

Rosie caressed Jack’s jaw, remembering all the ways she had seen him use those muscles over the years: while attempting to eat her early attempts at cooking, drinking coffee in the mornings before work, while kissing, when he was between her thighs, the strain to avoid an argument, the rare but explosive times when he lost his temper. She ran her fingers to his temples, recalling all the laughter and tears that were etched in the lines by his eyes. She kissed the lips that had spoken their vows, had comforted when they discovered she could not bear children, became thin in anger, crooked when amused and swollen when loved.

Jack cupped the cheekbones that had held him captive the first time she arrived at the station to bring her father supper, and then, years later, nuzzled him during the night until his nightmares dissipated. He ran his fingers up her temple, drinking in the eyes that smiled shyly when they first made love, cried in joy when he returned from the war, and in pain the day she had packed up and moved out. The soft lines at her mouth, carved from laughter, but set with determination. He kissed the lips that had spoken their vows, had spread thinly in disappointment at his career choices, had whispered reassuringly to him in the dark.

Rosie leaned over and kissed him from his chest, up his sternum, past his neck, kissing until she reached his earlobe. Jack responded with a low familiar growl. His hips were finally spurred into action, eliciting a pretty groan from Rosie in response.

They rocked against each other slowly. Unlike the urgency of last night, they took their time with each other. Savoring each caress. Memorizing each sigh and gasp. Their hands kneaded each other’s flesh as if they were trying to sculpt their individual bodies into some new, altogether different being.

Their eyes met and they clasped each other’s hands, letting the blanket fall away. Their fingers entwined and they used the extra purchase to grind deeper into each other, a slow steady rhythm with their hearts beating a staccato counterpoint. An unmistakeable heat current pulsed between them. Their cheeks flushed with exertion and arousal; their breathing synchronized, becoming the only indication that they were close to orgasm. They lean into each other to stifle the cries. Their joint release was intense, years of frustration, fear, sadness, and love finally releasing from their bodies.

When they pulled back, Jack saw the tears in Rosie’s eyes. He kissed them away before they can travel down her cheek. His body's own response is a trembling that ripples through his whole body. They hold each other, each softly soothing the other until they both feel they are back inside themselves.

This time, when they pull back, their spirits are lighter and they find themselves smiling.

“That was…”

“It was…”

“You are…”

“So are you…”

“Words seem woefully…”

“Useless, pointless, undeserving…”

“Yes.”

“I think my cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling.”

“Mine too.”

And then they both giggled.

The muffled cries and unmistakable sounds of lovemaking had finally brought Phryne to consciousness. She often preferred waking alone, but not when it was on a rug in front of someone else’s fire. She rose, feeling a bit cross, and snatched the throw blanket off the chaise to follow the noises. When she located Jack and Rosie she hesitated, her breath catching in her throat.

She remained rooted to her spot, watching as they shattered against each other. She cannot completely hear their exchange, but she could sense the intimacy of it; she decided the moment is one that seemed to demand privacy.

She chose instead to seek out the washroom and run herself a bath. Jack’s one indulgence after the divorce was the oversized tub that filled the otherwise average-sized bathroom. She knew he had spent countless evenings soaking away a troubling case with a glass of good whiskey and a beloved novel. He didn’t dare bring one of his first editions near the tub, so instead of Shakespeare or Dickens, Phryne spotted Zane Grey, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and H. G. Wells on the bench nearby.

Phryne realized that she potentially had a real-life drama playing out around her, so she chose to lose herself in her own thoughts instead of reading. It had been a long time since she let herself become emotionally attached to a lover, so she needed to sort through her current feelings. She reminded herself that she had instigated this little experiment. And, though physically she had not been disappointed, she was surprised at the flash of jealousy she felt upon seeing them this morning. While she was not opposed to reconnecting with former lovers, Compton had certainly proven that, she did not seek them out either.

Was she really jealous of Jack making love to his ex-wife? No, she needed to puzzle this out. And despite being excellent at puzzling out for others, she proved a terrible client. Then it struck her: it was the fact that they had not included her that was at the heart of the matter. Phryne craved being needed.

She was still deep in thought and soaking in the tub when Rosie and Jack wandered in to check on her. They both noticed the slight furrow to her brow and with a quick glance at each other, decided to take action. Rosie slipped off Jack’s robe and climbed into the tub, and Jack came alongside Phryne and kissed her in greeting.

A smile quickly spread across her pursed lips and her face relaxed into a smile. “If you brought coffee as well, I may never leave.”

Jack’s chuckle, so close to her ear, was a welcome salve to the last of her troubled thoughts. As was the feel of Rosie’s legs sliding across her own.

“Good morning, darlings.” Phryne continued. She wasn’t one to mince words so her tone was light, but it was still evident that she upset. “I am trying not to be terribly cross with both of you for finding myself all alone this morning.”

They both looked a bit sheepish, which proved so endearing, Phryne found her resolve dissolving faster than Mr. B’s full-proof hangover powder.

“I’m afraid you can blame me for that,” Rosie offered. “I have news, Phryne.”

“I’ll let you fill her in while I work on that coffee request.” And with that, Jack reclaimed his robe and disappeared to the kitchen.

“Oh? What kind of news, Rosie?”

“I did it. I sold the last of Sidney’s tainted gifts to me and am booked on the _HMS Delphic_ bound for England in three days.”

“Sounds like you are headed off on an excellent adventure!” Phryne slid herself around in the tub, ignoring the water that splashed over the rim, and tucked herself into Rosie. Rosie wrapped her long and slender arms around her as Phryne pillowed her head against Rosie’s breasts. They sat like that a few moments.

“Is it, by chance, a one-way ticket?”

“Yes, it is.” Rosie said into Phryne’s ear. “I know you’ll understand why.”

“I do indeed, and I hope Europe is kinder to you than it was to me.”

Jack returned with his makeshift serving tray with three cups of coffee.

“As long as I live, I am not sure I will have the pleasure of a more beautiful sight to start my day.” Jack declared, admiring his two bathing beauties.

The two women drank in the sight of rumpled, freshly fucked Jack, with his robe haphazardly tied over his nakedness, and silently agreed with him.

The moment was almost too perfect, which is why none of them were surprised when Jack’s phone began ringing in the hallway.


	9. Bon Voyage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farewells and Shakespeare, a quite end to our love story. Lots of notes at the end.

The next three days passed by in a blur. It was a flurry of packing and settling of legal affairs for Rosie and solving a murder for Phryne and Jack. They were not able to see each other again until the day of her departure. When Phryne and Jack located Rosie and Marjorie it was just as the kids were having a bit of a tantrum over a “need” for Streets Ice Cream. Poor Margie shuffled off with the kids in the hopes that it would allow Rosie a few moments of peace to give a proper farewell.

The three were relieved for the moment alone. As alone as you can be on a dock teeming with travelers and their respective families.

“There is so much to say and so little time. I cannot thank you both enough for…well, everything.”

“Rosie, you are truly a remarkable woman and I hope you explore everything Europe has to offer.” The two women hugged and Phryne gave her a chaste kiss on the mouth. While they embraced, she whispered in Rosie’s ear, “Farewell, my adventuress. Write and tell me  _ everything _ .”

They separated and it was Jack’s turn. Phryne hastily went to join Margie and the kids in the ice cream line to give Jack and Rosie some space.

Rosie felt the tears stinging her eyes before she could even speak. “Darling Jack, I hardly know what to say. I feel like I have had to say goodbye to you too many times already.” She looked up at his face and realized his eyes were filled with tears too.

They leaned into each other, their foreheads touching for a few heartbeats before embracing tightly. When he opened his mouth and spoke she felt it from her hair to her toes and thought his words might take up residence in her bones.

“Doubt thou the stars are fire;

Doubt that the sun doth move;

Doubt truth to be a liar;

But never doubt I love.”

“Never,” she whispered, the tears flowing freely now.

Hamlet’s letter to Ophelia. The same words he had spoken to her the night he declared his intentions to marry her.   

“My Rosie, always.”

They separated as they heard the thundering return of her niece and nephew and the softer approach of Marjorie and Phryne.

There was a last round of hugs, a few tears and even a few smiles courtesy of the shenanigans of the kids. Rosie then made her way onto the ship and found a spot amongst her fellow passengers to give a final wave to the loved ones staying behind. They all watched and waved until they became indiscernible dots, like a painting stared at too long.

Rosie reached into her pocket to retrieve a handkerchief when she realized a small bundle had been slipped into her pocket. She opened it to find the photo of herself and Phryne entering the nightclub and a list with several addresses on it. The list was clearly in Phryne’s hand and sealed with her trademark lipstick. At the bottom she had written, “Tell them Mac and I sent you.”

Rosie smiled to herself and carefully wrapped up the bundle and re-deposited it into her pocket. She then went in search of her cabin and, once inside, was only mildly surprised to find a bottle of champagne waiting for her. What was surprising, though, was the large box with a bow on it sitting on the bed.

When she opened it she discovered the most stunning pair of camiknickers she had ever laid eyes on. They were made of an incredibly delicate, hand-embroidered lace leaving them quite transparent in sections. The lace was in a deep shade of indigo. The darkest blue before black. The legs were longer than expected but of a beautiful silk. In the bottom of the box she found a note.

_ Darling Rosie, whoever you choose to share your heart or your bed with will be lucky indeed. Enjoy all the world has to offer but know that you are loved in Melbourne. _

_ Always, Jack _

_ P.S. Phryne insists that every great adventuress should have an extraordinary pair of lingerie and we agreed these fit the bill. _

Rosie had to smile. Only those two could give a gift that simultaneously melted her heart and increased her pulse.

_Well Rosie,_ she thought, _there’s_ _no turning back now. Time to see what adventures await you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the Hamlet quote in context (the original, plus a modern translation) It's Act 2, Scene 2  
> Hamlet and Ophelia obviously didn't end well and I am certainly not implying that poor Jack is the hot mess that Hamlet was but there was something about their early courtship that felt right here. 
> 
> GERTRUDE  
> Came this from Hamlet to her?
> 
> POLONIUS  
> Good madam, stay a while. I will be faithful.  
> (reads the letter)  
>   “Doubt thou the stars are fire,  
>   Doubt that the sun doth move,  
>   Doubt truth to be a liar,  
>   But never doubt I love.  
>  O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers. I have not art to reckon my groans, but that I love thee best, oh, most best, believe it. Adieu.  
>   Thine evermore, most dear lady,  
>   whilst this machine is to him,  
>     Hamlet.”  
> This in obedience hath my daughter shown me,  
> And more above, hath his solicitings,  
> As they fell out by time, by means, and place,  
> All given to mine ear.
> 
> GERTRUDE  
> Hamlet wrote this letter to Ophelia?
> 
> POLONIUS  
> Madam, please be patient. I’ll read it to you.  
> (he reads the letter)  
>  “You may wonder if the stars are fire,  
>  You may wonder if the sun moves across the sky.  
>  You may wonder if the truth is a liar,  
>  But never wonder if I love.  
> Oh, Ophelia, I’m bad at poetry. I can’t put my feelings into verse, but please believe I love you best, oh, best of all. Believe it.  
>  Yours forever, my dearest one,  
>  as long as I live—still chugging along,  
>     Hamlet.”  
> Dutifully and obediently my daughter showed me this letter, and more like it. She’s told me all about how Hamlet has been courting her—all the details of where, and what he said, and when.
> 
> And, the lingerie was inspired by this collection. Indigo dye is tricky to work with and dark blue is difficult to achieve any other way, especially then. So, this would have made lingerie silk in Indigo expensive, unique and just the kind of splurge that Phryne would make, knowing how amazing Rosie looks in blue. I am sure Phryne just distracted Jack in the shop so that he didnt' realize just HOW expensive they were. Dear man. http://www.thelingerieaddict.com/2013/05/great-gatsby-fever-20-pieces-of-vintage-1920s-lingerie.html

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [In a Secondhand Store](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7244329) by [Meldanya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meldanya/pseuds/Meldanya)




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